


Uncle Eddie

by SuperFriends (Hokum)



Category: From Dusk Till Dawn: The Series
Genre: Baby!Richie, Baby!Seth, Child Neglect, Eddie is a better dad then Ray, Gecko Brothers, Kid Fic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-10-19
Updated: 2017-03-16
Packaged: 2018-08-23 10:08:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 12,067
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8323816
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hokum/pseuds/SuperFriends
Summary: Peering in the car window Eddie does a double take, there was a little kid sitting in the backseat staring back at him. He fumbled with the keys as he opened the car door and got another shock; there was a baby asleep in the kids lap.A series of one shots about how Uncle Eddie more than makes up for Richie and Seth's drunken abusive arsehole of a father.





	1. Falkor the Luck Dragon

 

Eddie Cruickshank hummed happily to himself as he headed back towards his apartment. He'd had a good night shooting pool and catching up with old friends, namely his old partner in crime Ray Gecko. They'd been friends since they were kids, running jobs together but that was beginning to become a thing of the past. They were both becoming different people and he wasn't sure he liked the person Ray was turning out to be.

  
He was driving so he'd only had one beer, no matter how much Ray pushed him to drink more. Ray Gecko could drink enough for the pair of them which he had gladly done so, he was pretty hammered by the time he showed up to the bar half and hour late with some bimbo hanging off his arm. Having just done two years in the can Eddie was in no hurry to go back, especially not over something as dumb as drunk driving. Nope, he was going straight. Or as straight as he could. Whilst inside he'd got himself a job fixing all the electricals, it was an easy way to spend time and he enjoyed doing it. Once he'd gotten out a friend had leased Eddie his old gun shop that had gone bust. The plan was to do it up and start up a TV repair shop, with maybe a few little jobs on the side. Hanging out with his old crew had really hit home that time was getting on and he wasn't getting any younger. The shop should set him up with a good income until it was time to retire plus it would also provide good cover to lauder all the money he had squirreled away over the years.

"Son of a Bitch," he muttered as he turned into his driveway.

Ray's car was parked right across his driveway, effectively blocking Eddie from parking on his own god darn car. He'd taken Ray's car keys away from him when it was obvious that his old partners only interest was getting as drunk as he possibly could. Now Eddie was going to have to park on the side road, get out, shift Ray's car and re-park his own car. It was too late for this shit. After parking his own car he made his way back to his driveway in the dark, he really needed to get an outside lamp put in. Eddies just about to open the front car door when he sees something moving in the backseat. He hoped Ray didn't stagger back here and pass out in the backseat because if he had then he could bloody well stay there. Peering in the car window Eddie does a double take, there was a little kid sitting in the backseat staring back at him. He fumbled with the keys as he opened the car door and got another shock; there was a baby asleep in the kids lap. It only takes him a few minutes to put the pieces of this particular puzzle together.

"Seth?"

The kid looks up at him nervously and nods.

Eddie's still in a shock, he'd asked after the kids only a few hours ago, he presumed Ray had left them with a babysitter after their mom skipped out on them. Hell, he's never even met the baby who was born whilst he was inside. Eddie kneels down so he's not looming over Seth, whose holding tightly onto the sleeping baby.

"Hey buddy, you remember me? I'm a friend of your Pa's, used to come see you when you were little."

Seth scrunches up his nose like he's trying to remember something long forgotten.

"You had a dog."

Eddie laughs, old Ruby was long gone but he's glad Seth remembers her.

"That’s right. Whose this little guy?" He asks, pointing at the baby.

"Richie."

"Is that short for Richard?"

Seth only nods but he eases up on his grip on the baby, clearly satisfied that Eddie isn't a crazed killer.

"Have you two been in here all night?"

"Dad said we had to wait," Seth mumbles.

Eddie frowns but holds his tongue, how could you leave two little kids in the backseat of a car all night? When he'd left the bar Ray had already disappeared with one of the waitresses. He looks down to find Richie blinking up at him owlishly.

"Hey little man," he says as he reaches out to ruffle the babies thick hair. The baby, clearly unconvinced by Eddie, wriggles further into his brother's lap.

"How about you two come inside with me and we'll see if we can get hold of your dad, that sound good?"

Seth doesn't say anything but continues to shift uncomfortably which is when the strong smell of urine hits Eddie.

"I had to go," Seth says without looking at him, clearly embarrassed.

"Don't worry about it kid, just wait till you get my age. Let's you out of there and into some clean clothes," Eddie says as he reaches in to pick up the baby.

Unfortunately as soon as soon as the baby is taken away from his brother he starts to scream like he's being murdered.

"Hey come on now, what's all this fussing for," Eddie asks in what he hopes is a kind a reassuring voice as he stands up with the baby in his arms.  
He can feel Richie's diaper is completely soiled which is probably half the reason why he's crying so loudly. The only good thing about Richie's high pitched wailing is that it causes Seth to scramble out the car after them. Eddie holds the baby to one side so he can still Seth who's toddling along beside them. Seth reaches up and takes hold of Richie's tiny foot, so his brother knows he's not far away.This seems to calm the baby down, or he stops crying so loudly at any rate.

"I bet you kids are hungry, let's get you two cleaned up and then I'll fix you a sandwich."

He leads them into the bathroom at the end of the hall, sits the baby on the floor and starts running a hot bath. By the time he's turned around the baby has disappeared and Seth is rummaging through the bathroom cabinet.

"Can I have one of these sweets?" Seth asks as Eddie sprints past him looking for the baby.

Luckily Richie hasn't made it far, just crawled down the hallway to Eddie's bedroom. Eddie picks him up and carries him back to the bathroom where Seth has got most of the contents of his bathroom cabinet on the floor. He sets the baby down next to Seth and closes the door to prevent anymore escape attempts.

"Uncle Eddie? Can we have one of these sweets?" Seth asks again as he holds out something in a silver wrapper and giving him those puppy dog brown eyes.

"Sweets?" Eddie asks taking the thing out of Seth's hand and inspects it. It turns out to be a condom.

"Those ain't sweets kid," Eddie says as he hastily shoves shampoo bottles and various other toiletries back into their rightful place.

Seth pouts looking distinctly disappointed but is soon distracted as Richie crawls towards him and starts to babble away to him. Eddie leaves them playing some imaginary game together, Seth talking to Richie even though he's too little to understand or respond properly.

"Baths ready kids, in you get."

He strips both boys and deposits them both in the tub, were they have great fun splashing around. They're both a bit grubby which Eddie is pretty sure has more to do with Ray's non existent parenting skills rather than spending a night in a car. Richie isn't too keen on getting his hair wet so Seth distracts him by blowing bubbles at him whist Eddie makes fast work of washing it. Once they're clean he wraps them both up in towel and carries them to the couch.

"Seth?"

Seth looks up from where he's been trying to smooth the babies damp hair into submission.

"Can you watch your brother whilst I go upstairs for a minute?"

Seth sits up a little straighter, evidently enjoying being asked to be in charge, and nods solemnly.

"Good lad. I'll be back in five minutes ok."

True to his word he's back in five minutes with an armful of diapers, a sippy cup and a baby romper. The lady upstairs has a rugrat a little bit older than Richie and she was more than generous, he's even got a rattle for the kid to play with. Seth will have to make do with an old t shirt that one of Eddie's "lady friends" left behind. It ends up falling way past his knees but it's black and has a cool skull on it which seems to impress the three year old. He hand's the baby the rattle who takes one look at it and then promptly throws it on the floor. Clearly Richie is not so easily impressed.

Eddie's never put a diaper on a baby before and it takes him a while to figure out what goes where. Plus Richie keeps trying to wriggle out of his grip which isn't helping. After about fifteen minutes of struggling it looks a bit wonky but it doesn't fall off when he picks Richie up so it will just have to do for now. Seth, who had been looking through Eddie's vast collection of VHS tapes, wanders over to him holding one of the cassettes.

"Can we watch this?"

Eddie shifts Richie to his hip so he can take the tape from Seth and read the front cover. It's "Night of the Demon". The kid has good taste but Eddie's pretty sure that it's not suitable for a three year old and a not quite one year old.

"Maybe not that one buddy. I might have some Disney around here somewhere."

"Disneys boring," Seth mutters which makes Eddie laugh.

"Ok no Disney. Let me have a look and see what I can find."

The baby is starting to wriggle and stretch out his little hands towards Seth so Eddie sets him down so he can crawl towards his brother. Seth claps when Richie reaches the short distance between them which earns him a gummy smile. After some searching he manages to find a battered copy of the Neverending Story; hopefully Gmork won't scare the baby. He makes them both sit on the couch whilst he goes to the kitchen to make them something to eat and see if he can get hold of Ray. He fixes Seth a small sandwich, mashes up a banana for Richie and gets them both a glass of juice. There's no answer from Ray's house so he leaves a message at the bar just incase Ray stumbled his way back there. All thats left is to fix himself a cup of coffee and head on back to the living room where the kids are engrossed in the film.

"Look Richie, it's a dog!"

It's actually Falkor the Luck Dragon but Eddie will let that slide for now.

Seth practically inhales his sandwich so he helps Eddie feed Richie the mashed up banana. It's nice, sitting here with the kids. He'd never really been interested in starting a family, he'd been too busy out having fun. Both boys end up falling asleep in his lap and Eddie can feel his eyes start to close. Just before he falls asleep he makes a promise to himself to keep an eye on the Gecko brothers, it looks like they're going to need him.


	2. Totoro

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "What's that?" Seth asks pointing to the three injections in Nurse Flora's hand.
> 
> "Medicine," Eddie grunts as he shifts Richie around so that Nurse Flora can administer the injection into Richie's chubby little leg.

Pulling up to the ramshackle apartment Eddie could see that one of the lights was on which meant that the kids were home, hopefully with a babysitter but he wasn't holding out much hope. He'd just driven past a dive bar and seen Ray Gecko stumbling out of it with a girl hanging of each arm. it didn't look like he was on his way home which made Eddie begin to get concerned about the kids being left home alone. He knew that it must be hard having to look after two young boys on your own but Ray acts like he doesn't have kids most of the time. All he seems to care about is how much he can drink and who the next person he can have sex with is going to be. Plus playing with the kids is fun. Richie can talk now, well a he can say a few words, and Seth is turning into a right little charmer. Eddie just doesn't get why Ray would want to miss out on that.

Eddie had himself a key cut when he realized just how often Ray left the kids home alone. Seth was only five after all and he shouldn't be expected to take care of a two year old, god forbid anything should happen to either of them. He calls out to the kids once he gets inside but gets no response. The house is a complete tip. Empty beer bottles are scattered all over the living room and the trash doesn’t look like it's been taken out for a while. How long had the kids been left on their own?

"Kids? It's Uncle Eddie," he calls out, louder this time, neither child appears but he can hear a low whimpering sound coming from the kids room at the end of the hall.

"Kids?" He calls again as he enters their bedroom.

Richie turns out to be the source of the noise. The little boy is sat on his bed grizzling and sniffing loudly whilst Seth is sat next to him trying to get him to drink out of a sippy cup. This doesn't look good.

"Hey Kids, everything ok?"

"He's really hot Uncle Eddie, he won't drink any of the water," Seth says anxiously as he once again tries to get Richie to drink out of the cup. Richie just pushes the cup away and rubs his eyes tiredly.

Eddie comes and sits next to Richie and on closer inspection he can see that the little tykes cheeks are bright red and his hair was dripping with sweat. He places his hand against Richie's forehead; it was burning hot. Richie suddenly starts coughing and spluttering, his little chest sounding like broken rattle.

"You not feeling well little buddy? Come to Uncle Eddie," he said softly as he picks Richie up and sits him on his lap.

Richie coughs again and looks all together very miserable as he clings onto Eddie.

"Hot," Richie says, his little voice sounding like sandpaper scraping on a wall.

"I know buddy, let's see what we can do to make you feel better. How long has he been like this Seth?"

Seth who has been hovering anxiously next to him looks up at him with his big brown eyes.

"Since Tuesday, dad wouldn't listen to me when I said he was sick," he says as he tries to make Richie drink from the cup again but Richie just shakes his head and starts coughing again.

"Where's your dad at?"

"He went for a drink with a friend."

"When?"

"Three days ago."

Eddie frowns, its now Friday and even he knows that you shouldn’t leave a little kid with a fever like this. Richie's starting to cry again so Eddie decides to take action.

"Seth, I need you to get me a damp washcloth and a straw if you've got one."

As Seth speeds off Eddie sets to work stripping Richie out of his sweaty PJ's, leaving him in just his Pull Ups. His skin is hot and clammy all over but he doesn't have a rash which is a good sign. Seth returns, panting, with a washcloth that’s dripping water all over the floor and a handful of Big Kahuna Burger drink straws. Eddie takes the washcloth and holds it at the base of Richie's neck for a while and then presses it against the rest of the kids body. Hopefully this will give him some relief  
from his fever. Next he gets Seth to take the lid of the sippy cup and hold it out to him so he can dip the straw in. Then he places the end of the straw on Richie's mouth so little beads of water can drip onto his dry, chapped lips. Its an old trick, one his own mother used when he wouldn't take medicine. It has the desired effect as Richie sticks his little tongue out and licks the water from his lips.

"Is he going to die?" Seth asks anxiously, his eyes already filling with tears.

"No! But I think we might need to take him to hospital. You got a blanket I can wrap him up in?"

Seth nods and scampers off to his own bed to retrieve his Ninja Turtles blanket.

Five minutes later he's got Richie bundled up in the blanket, helped Seth put his shoes on and left a note for Ray if he ever bothers to return home. He doesn't have any kids car seats so he lets Seth sit in the front, puts Richie on his lap and buckles them both in. The local hospital is thankfully less then a twenty minute drive away. It’s a Friday night so the hospital is extremely busy, full of drunk college kids and beat up prostitutes. Eddie herds Seth along as he carrIes Richie over to the reception desk. Having a sick toddler gets them to seen almost instantly and they're quickly escorted into a private room and told a nurse will be with them shortly. Thankfully Seth has been sticking pretty close to him; the hospital seems to be a bit overwhelming which is understandable considering Ray never takes them anywhere.

"You ok buddy?" Eddie asks as he sits himself down on a chair with Richie in his lap. Seth nods but he moves closer to Eddie as he takes in the small hospital room. It's got a couple of chairs, one of which Eddie is sat on, a hospital bed and a vast array of medical equipment.

"The Doctor will be here soon, then we'll get your brother feeling better in no time," Eddie says as he ruffles Seth's hair.

The curtain is suddenly flung back and a very smiley looking nurse enters. She makes a beeline for Richie who shrinks back against Eddie's chest.

"Hello little one, what can we do for you today?"

Eddie's not sure if she's expecting a response or not considering Richie hasn't quite mastered saying his own name yet.

"Well, he's got a fever and he keeps coughing, his chest sounds pretty bad as well," Eddie says just as Richie starts coughing again.

"Oh dear, what a poorly little poppet! What's your name sweet pea?"

"Richie," Seth pipes up as Richie just grizzles and clutches onto Eddie.

"Hello Richie, my names Flora. I'm going to help make you feel better. Does that sound good?"

Eddie finds this all a bit weird, he's still not sure if Flora is expecting him or the two year old sitting in his lap to respond to the questions or not. At least he's got Seth who has been watching the nurse like a hawk.

"And how old are you Richie?"

"He's two," Seth answers again, clearly not liking being left out of the adults conversation.

"Wow! Such a big boy!" She finally straightens up and starts asking Eddie questions.

"How long has he had the symptoms for?"

"A couple of days I think."

"And your relationship to the child?"

"I'm their Uncle, I'm watching them whilst their dad is out of town."

Seth looks up at him and Eddie gives him a warning look, they don't need CPS getting involved on top of everything else. Nurse Flora asks for a general overview of Richie's health, if he has any allergies or previous health conditions. Most of this Eddie can't answer but he hope's he's provided Nurse Flora with enough information to be of some use. 

"OK, I'm going to run a few test so I'm going to need you to sit him up on your lap for me."

Eddie does as he's told and Nurse Flora starts by sticking a thermometer in Richie's ear which does not go down well. Undaunted by the wailing that’s making Eddie's ears ache she whips out a stethoscope and listens to Richie's chest. It doesn't look good as her smiley demeanor descends into a frown.

"His chest is very congested which isn't good. Plus his temperature is way above what's normal for a child his age. I'm going to give him some antibiotics to help with the chest infection and I'll need to put a drip in which he's not going to like. Can you keep him still whilst I prepare the injections?"

She bustles off to the corner to prepare the injections leaving Eddie to try and comfort Richie, who despite having a severe chest infection is still making good use of his lungs by wailing loudly.

"I don't like her," Seth says in a very audible whisper as he glares at Nurse Flora who is politely pretending not to hear him.

"Hey, manners kid! She's just doing her job. She's going to make Richie better, you'll see."

Seth looks unconvinced by this as he moves closer to hold his little brothers hand which mercifully stops Richie from crying. Eddie's ears are really starting to ache.

"Richie doesn't like her either," he mutters as he wipes the tears off Richie's cheeks with his sleeve.

Eddie laughs; Seth's big brother bossiness can be quite endearing. Out of the corner of his eye he can see Nurse Flora edging back towards them. Thankfully Richie and Seth are too distracted in each other to notice until its almost too late.

"What's that?" Seth asks suddenly, pointing to the three injections in Nurse Flora's hand.

"Medicine," Eddie grunts as he shifts Richie around so that Nurse Flora can administer the shots into Richie's chubby little thigh.

Two things happen at once; firstly Richie howls in pain, his little face bright red as he bursts into tears, secondly Seth upon seeing his brother crying tries to push Nurse Flora away from him. Eddie manages to simultaneously grab the back of Seth's t shirt to pull him back and stop Richie tumbling off his lap in melee. Whilst he's struggling with the two kids, Nurse Flora grabs Richie's wildly kicking leg and dispenses the last two injections which causes Richie to twist around like something out of the Exorcist all the while screaming his head off.

"She's hurting him!" Seth shouts as he once again tries to take Richie away from Eddie.

Eddie tries to explain that Nurse Flora is just trying to make Richie better but it’s a lot for a five year old to take in. All Seth can see is that Richie is crying whenever the medical staff come near him.

"You said she'd make him better!" Seth yells as Eddie once again tries to stop him from pulling Richie out of his lap.

"She is, just let her help Seth," Eddie says calmly. He can't get mad at Seth; he's too young to understand any of this. They still need to get the IV into Richie's foot and judging by the size of the needle in Nurse Flora's hand it isn't going to happen without a fuss.

Ten minutes later they have made exactly zero process with the IV. Nurse Flora, god love her, has tried everything to distract Richie including five different renditions of The Wheels on the Bus, playing an imaginary trumpet, pretending to be a dog and acting out various Disney scenes with sock puppets. None of this seems to work as Richie hasn't forgotten the earlier incident with the injection. Everytime the nurse comes near him he starts howling and trying to wriggle away.

Seth has also become more of a hindrance than a help as he keeps trying to get between Richie and Nurse Flora no matter how many times Eddie tells him not to. Eddie's position as Seth's favorite (and only) Uncle is rapidly declining. In the end both Nurse Flora and Eddie admit defeat; Richie is getting too distressed and they both decided to let him be for five minutes.

Suddenly Eddie gets an idea.

"Seth, jump up on the bed for me buddy."

Seth eyes him warily and shoots off a glare at Nurse Flora who has retreated to the other side of the room but for once does as he's told. Richie seems to realize something is going on as he starts to grizzle again once Eddie stands up. Seth pats his little brothers head and gives Nurse Flora a very smug look as Richie settles in his lap without a fuss. There's a small TV high up on the wall that’s been playing the news since they got in. Eddie fiddles with channels until he finds something suitable for the kids and that might distract Richie long enough so that the Nurse Flora can put the drip in. My Neighbor Totoro is just starting and it seems to have the desired effect as both kids go silent almost instantly.

"Look Richie, a bunny!" Seth says pointing up at the screen where Totoro is bouncing around.

As soon as Richie looks up towards the TV Nurse Flora moves quick as lighting and slips the needle into the vein in Richie's foot and attaches the IV. There's a pause before Richie realizes what's happened. Then he starts screaming so loudly it's making Eddie's thinks he might actually go deaf. Seth who had been engrossed in the TV up until this point looks down at Nurse Flora who's still fiddling with the IV.

"YOU HURT HIM!" Seth yells accusingly as his bottom lip begins to wobble and he starts bawling along with Richie.

One crying kid Eddie can deal with but two is a little bit out of his league. He tries to untangle the pair of them but Richie is holding onto Seth with such force that Eddie didn’t think was possible for a two year old. Seth is also putting up one hell of a fight as he keeps an iron clad grip on his brother.

"Seth...let...go," Eddie pants as he tries to pick up the still screaming Richie.

"NO!"

Suddenly a different nurse appears dressed in brightly colored scrubs and a badge that reads "Official Sticker Dispenser". He walks right up to them, seemingly oblivious to the noise the two kids are making, and starts talking to Seth.

"Hello young man, how old are you?"

Seth, who has been momentarily distracted by the new person, loosens his grip on Richie which allows Eddie to finally pull him free.

"Five."

"I bet you take really good care of your little brother don't you?"

Seth nods, glancing up at Eddie who has finally managed to reduce Richie's screaming to a low level wailing.

"Well I think you deserve a sticker for being such a good big brother. How about we go and pick one out for you?"

"Can Richie have one too?"

"Yes sweetie, he can have one too. Let's go and pick one out for him," Without waiting for a response he takes Seth by the hand and leads him out of the room.

He cuddles Richie close and tries to comfort him, he hates seeing the kids upset especially when they're so little. Eddie doesn't know what he's doing, not really. He's never really been around kids much but Seth and Richie have never seemed to mind his muddled attempts. All they're really looking for is some love and affection which their dad doesn't seem able to give them.

"I'm sorry buddy," Eddie says softly as he smooths Richie's sweaty hear away from his face.

"Ouch," Richie says as he points to his foot with the IV in.

"I know kid, you'll feel better soon I promise."

"Cat," Richie says as points up to Totoro.

"Well technically He's the spirit of the forest but he looks pretty cat like to me," Eddie says as he turns around so Richie can see the TV better.

Seth returns ten minutes later covered almost head to foot in brightly colored stickers.

"Look Richie I got you a sticker! It says Little Bear on it and I've got one that says Big Bear," Seth says proudly as he show's off his sticker collection to Richie.

"How about you keep it safe for him, that way he can have something nice when we go home," Eddie suggests.

"Ok," Seth says as he tucks the sticker carefully into his pocket, "Can we go home now?"

"Sorry Seth but I think we're going to be stuck here a little while longer. You wanna go see if they have any toys in here?"

"Nah, it's no fun without Richie."

My Neighbor Totoro is still playing on the TV so the three of them watch that, Seth asking various questions throughout. The film is almost over when Richie starts to get cranky again so Eddie walks around the room with him, rubbing firm circles on the kids back, hoping that that might soothe his agitation. It works pretty well but as soon as Eddie tries to put Richie to bed the kid clings to him like a koala and starts crying again. This was going to be a long night.

Nurse Flora returns about half an hour and manages to put an oxygen mask on Richie without much resistance as the kid is too exhausted to put up much of a fight. Seth had been watching her with narrowed eyes so she retreats away quietly before he can kick up any more of a fuss. Eddie resumes his slow walk around the room and tries not to think about what could have happened if he hadn't turned up when he did. What if he'd not gone over? Would Ray had even bothered to take Richie to the hospital? Half an hour later he and hasn't heard a peep from the kid. Richie's sound asleep with his little head resting against Eddies shoulder, his sweaty hair damp against his Uncle's neck. Thank god for small miracles. As gently as he can he lays Richie down on the hospital bed and says a silent prayer when he doesn't wake up. Seth has fallen asleep in one of the chairs, his head almost hanging of the end, so Eddie picks him up and puts him to bed with his brother. He picks up the Ninja Turtles blanket that was laying forgotten on the floor and tucks it around them.

Nurse Flora returns to adjust the drip on Richie's foot.

"Aww, cute kids," It's Nurse Flora who has returned to adjust the drip in Richie's foot.

"Yeah they are," Eddie says softly. Once Nurse Flora has departed he pulls up a chair close to the two sleeping kids and settles in for the night.


	3. Chapter 3

“Ok, so remember what we talked about earlier? When Seth wakes up we’re going to pretend that we don’t remember it’s his birthday, ok?”

Eddie was stood at his kitchen counter mixing up a batch of his special birthday pancakes. Richie was perched on a stool next to him as his ‘Sous Chef’ but had only really succeed in making a mess. Trying to explain the art of subterfuge to a three year old was proving to be difficult. 

“Why?” Richie asks for the umpteenth time just as he drops another egg onto the floor. 

“Because it’s fun,” Eddie tells him as he cleans up the mess. His apartment already looks like a tornados been through it but he doesn't mind. Kids, especially little ones, are supposed to be messy.

Richie looks up at him, his little eyebrows knitted together in confusion. 

“But won’t Seth be sad if he thinks we forgot?”

“Well… only for a little while but then when he see’s the special pancakes we made,” Eddie says as he tries to explain the plan again to Richie, “And the picture you drew him, he’ll think its funny. You know you’re brother has a silly sense of humour.”

“But I don’t want to make Seth sad,” Richie says as he looks down dejectedly at the heap of flour he’s just knocked over.

Eddie sighs heavily as he brushes flour out of Richie’s hair. The kid isn't quite getting that this will just be a fun prank to play on Seth, not a horrible betrayal of forgetting his brothers birthday. Maybe he’s expecting too much from such a little kid. Ray keeps telling anybody who will listen that Richie is retarded and stupid which Eddie is pretty sure isn't true. For one thing Richie can already read, just simple stuff, which is more then Seth could at his age. He’s also helped Eddie do the cryptic crossword on more than one occasion. 

“Don’t worry little buddy, we won’t make Seth sad. It’s just a joke ok?”

“Ok,” Richie says happily as he turns back to the pancakes, “Oops,” he’s knocked the spatula onto the floor. Again.

“Five second rule.” Eddie tells him as he picks the spatula up and throws it in the sink.

“But that wasn't five seconds,” Richie says as he traces little patterns in the flour with his finger.

“Its a figure of speech kid.”

They continue to make the pancakes for another couple of minutes, Richie helping somewhat, before Eddie decides its time to get the birthday boy up. It’ll be well past noon if they wait around for Seth to wake up; that boy could sleep through a God damn earthquake. Eddie had been poked awake at five in morning by Richie, who was adamant that Seth’s birthday wouldn't be forgotten. So far they’d been waiting for over three hours for Seth to get up.

“You go wake up your brother and I’ll finish off the pancakes,” Eddie says as he lifts Richie down from the stool he’s been standing on and sets him on the floor, “You got your picture?”

Richie scampers off to the kitchen table, retrieves his drawing and brings it back to Eddie. It’s two very neat looking stick people and what Eddie thinks is supposed to be a dog.

“You think Seth will like it?” Richie asks anxiously as he takes the picture back from Eddie.

“You know what? I think this is going to be Seth’s favourite present,” Eddie says as Richie smiles happily, “Now go wake him up before these pancakes go cold.”

“Careful!” Eddie calls out as Richie almost collides into the wall as he speeds off to go and get Seth. The kid was always bumping into stuff or tripping over; it was almost like he couldn't see what was directly in front of his face. 

Eddie begins frying off the pancakes in blessed silence for a while until a loud noise issues from the boys bedroom. Clearly Richie woke Seth up by jumping on top of him. Eddie chuckles to himself; its a lot of fun having those two kids around. He goes back to making the pancakes, whistling loudly to himself. Richie and Seth have been gone for what seems like ages before Eddie hears two pairs of small feet running towards him. Seth bounds towards him like an over excited puppy as Richie brings up the rear.

“Morning sleepy head, I didn't think you were ever gonna get up,” Eddie says as Seth continues to zoom about excitedly.

“Now I’m sure there was something that was happening today, something I was supposed to remember,” Eddie says as he scratches his head and pretends to be confused. Seth is looking up at him expectantly but Eddie hams it up a bit longer. 

“Nope I don’t think I can think of anything, what about you Richie? Anything happening today?”

Richie avoids his gaze and looks down at the floor sheepishly instead. 

“Richie told me you were going to pretend you forgot, but that you made special birthday pancakes.” Seth says excitedly as he bounces up and down like a yoyo.

“Did he now?” Eddie say’s with a sigh as Richie at least has the good grace to look be embarrassed, “Well come on then, we don't want the pancakes getting cold.” 

Once they've got themselves sat at the table Eddie dishes out pancakes, syrup and fresh juice as the kids chatter away happily. As predicted Seth is very pleased with his pictures and intends to put it up in their room once they get back home. 

“So, how old are you today little man?”

“Six,” Seth say’s proudly, “That’s three years older than Richie and four years closer to being ten.”

“I’m almost four,” Richie mutters as Eddie laughs.

“Wow six and almost four; you two are getting big. You’re almost be ready for your drivers licence soon.”

“Well Mr Birthday Boy, how about we find you a present?” 

Seth looks up at him in disbelief; Ray has never brought either of the kids a present. Eddie wouldn't even be surprised if Ray couldn't even remember his own kids birthdays. He certainly hadn't left a card or anything for Seth. 

“Now let me see, where did I put it? In here?” Eddie says out loud as he gets up and opens one of the kitchen cabinets. “Nope, not in here. Gosh I hope I didn't forget where I put your present Seth.”

Seth is almost starting to look disappointed which Eddie feels a bit guilty about until Richie pipes up from the kitchen table.

“You put it in the TV cabinet,” Richie says through a mouthful of pancake.

“Yes. Thank You Richard,” Eddie grumps as he pulls out a paper bag from the TV cabinet. Eddie’s never wrapped a present in his life and he’s not about to start now so he hands the bag over to Seth. It’s only a five dollar toy car but Seth eyes go wide with excitement as soon as he sees it.

“Cool!” he exclaims just as Eddie hands over a bag of sour worms to Richie; it might be Seth’s birthday but he doesn't want Richie to feel left out.

“How about you two go and play with it whilst I clean up here, sound good?”

The kids clamber down off the seats and tear off into the living room, Eddie can hear them playing some made up game about space monsters or some other weird shit. It’s funny watching them play with each other and more often than not Eddie gets roped into one of their games. He likes doing silly stuff with them; they're always so quiet when there dad is around, wouldn't say boo to a goose. You wouldn't even know Ray had any kids if you went to his apartment. Whenever the crew get together at Ray’s house Seth and Richie stay shut up in their room, quiet and out of the way. Eddie always sticks his head and gives them a couple of sweets or some comics. The noise is still going on when he’s finished cleaning up the mess in the kitchen. As he heads into the living room he finds them both rolling around on top of each other.

“Bad news kids,” He shouts over the din, “Looks like I don't have any food in the house. I think we’re gonna have to go out and get ice cream for dinner.”

As soon as Eddie mentions ice cream Seth starts jumping up and down like a lunatic and yelling at the top of his lungs.

“ICE CREAM!!”

“Hold your horses kid, you’re gonna burst a blood vessel.”

“Do you think Dad can come?” Seth asks hopefully once he stops leaping about. Richie doesn't look all that thrilled at the mention of their dad and Eddie can exactly blame him. Ray had taken it upon himself to drive three times over the limit down a country road in the middle of the night. His car had ploughed straight into a tree and earned him three weeks in lock up. Eddie had told the kids that Ray was “visiting friends” and that they would be staying with him for a while. 

“Errm… I don’t think so buddy, not today,” Eddie says as Seth looks a little dejected, “But we’re gonna have fun, just the three of us.”

Seth perks up a little and he gets up and goes to help Richie put his shoes and coat on. A few minutes later he’s got them both in the car and on the way to the ice cream parlour. It’s not busy once they get their and they get a whole booth to themselves. The kids look so small in the huge red seats; Richie can barely see over the table. A pretty blonde waitress sidles up to them, one hand on her hip and the other holding a notepad.

“What can I get for you today gentlemen?” 

“One Birthday Sundae please, extra sprinkles,” Eddie says before Seth can answer, “One mint chocolate chip and a couple of extra flakes for the little one.”

Most children would go mad in an ice cream parlour but the kids never ask him for anything, not even a bag of sweets. When Eddie treats them they always choose the cheapest item on the menu which they’ll always share. It worries Eddie that Ray doesn't feed them enough sometimes, the fridge always seems to have more beer than food in it.

“Coming right up.” The waitress says smiling at Eddie as she heads off to put their order in. Eddie watches her walk away; her hips rolling as she glides across the floor.

“She walks funny,” Seth says which causes Eddie to laugh out loud.

“Trust me kid, give it a couple of years and you’ll be following that walk everywhere you go,” Eddie smiles as Seth just looks a little confused. 

Minutes later a huge ice cream Sundae is delivered in front of Seth; its got enough ice cream to feed a small country. Seth’s eyes go as wide as dinner plates when he see’s it.

“You better not be sick in my car after eating all that, boy.” Eddie warns as he hands Seth a spoon.

“I won’t,” Seth says as he takes the spoon and tucks in eagerly, “Promise.”

“Good man,” Eddie says as he tucks into his his own ice cream. Can’t beat a bit of mint choc chip.

Richie is more interested in trying to complete the puzzle map on the table then the ice cream so Eddie breaks up a couple of chocolate flakes for him. He found out the hard way that the youngest Gecko definitely did not like ice cream after he’d taken them out a couple of months ago. It was too cold and hurt Richie’s teeth but you would have thought Eddie was trying to murder him the way he carried on. Meanwhile, Seth is eating his sundae at such a rapid speed that Eddie has to tell him to slow down at least three times. A six year old dosed up on sugar is probably going to be a nightmare come bedtime but the kids never get taken anywhere by Ray, unless it’s to a dive bar and they get left in the car alone all night. A little bit of ice cream isn't going to hurt them. Seth makes Eddie tell them the story of how he acquired the signed Kansas City Royals baseball he keeps in a glass cage in his office. They always ask him about the baseball and Eddie had to embellished some story about how he’d caught it at the World Series. He’d actually found it in a safe deposit box after he’d ram raided an armoured bank truck with Ray but the kids don't need to know that. 

Its late by the time Seth has polished off the last of his ice cream, he almost licks the bowl but Eddie manages to stop him. He calls for the check and gives the waitress his best smile as he lays down a big tip for her. Seth is watching him curiously as the waitress flirts with him a little.

“Come on kids lets go,” Eddie says as he pulls his jacket back on.

Richie has long since fallen asleep in booth so Eddie picks him and carries him to the car. It’s way past the kids bedtime but Eddie figures that as its a special occasion then thats ok. Seth is bouncing along beside him which is probably not a good idea when he’s full to the brim with ice cream. Richie rubs his eyes sleepily as Eddie buckles him into the back seat but he falls back to sleep again in an instant. He’s given Seth permission to ride in the front seat on an account of it being his birthday which has gone down very well. Seth is clearly feeling very grown up now he’s six.

“Good day kid?” Eddie asks him as he pulls out of the parking lot.

“BEST BIRTHDAY EVER!!” Seth shouts at the top of his voice.

“Ok ok, keep it down or you’ll wake your brother up.”

“Richie’s tired because he’s still little, not like me,” Seth says as he glances back at Richie, who’s still sleeping soundly, “I’m six now that’s almost a grown up.”

“Well he’ll catch you up soon enough,” Eddie says as he stops at the intersection.

“Cool. I don't mind that he’s still little though,” Seth says he as he looks nervously up at Eddie, like he’s going to get told off for having a smart mouth.  


Eddie reaches over and ruffles his hair until Seth starts to laugh. He doesn't mind that Seth likes being the big brother, even if he can be a little bossy with Richie sometimes. Eddie doesn't even mind when only five minutes later Seth projectile vomits semi digested ice cream all over the car seat. What's a little bit of puked up ice cream between family?


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Uncle Eddie takes the boys to mall, where he almost loses Seth, has to pry Richie away from a dog and accidentally tramatises the kids with the tale of the Child Catcher. That being said, he does manage to figure out that Richie might have a problem with his eyesight... Kids are exhausting.

Wonderland Mall is the kind of corporate monstrosity that normally Eddie would never set foot in; he’s just not really a Mall kind of guy. However he’s currently got a four and a six year old attached to each hand so it seemed like a good a place as any to take them. He's got shit to do today and he didn’t intend to have Seth and Richie with him at all today; two pairs of short legs are going to slow Eddie down but he couldn't very well leave them at home unsupervised. Eddie had only gone round that morning to drop off Ray’s share from their previous job, only to find his partner passed out on the couch in an alcoholic stupor and with a lit cigarette in his hand. After a fruitless attempt of trying to wake Ray up, all he got was snoring, Eddie eventually gave up and hid the money in one of the kitchen cupboards. He’d hung onto the money for a while longer than normal in the hope that Ray wouldn’t be able to waste it all on booze. That turned out to be a pointless exercise as empty liquor bottles were scattered across every surface and the fridge was completely empty when he opened it. Seth and Richie had been hold up in their bedroom, chewing on a few slices of mouldy bread and trying to stay out of sight from there father. There was no way Eddie was just going to leave them with a incoherent father and nothing to eat all day so he had got them dressed, left a note for Ray and stuck them in the car. Now; Eddie’s never taken the kids to the mall before but it can’t be that difficult can it? They’re only small and are normally pretty well behaved, although Eddie’s never taken them anywhere as large as the mall before. Richie seems a little nervous as they walk in the entrance, which is already packed with people, and he holds Eddie’s hand extra tight and sticks close to him. Seth on the other hand is completely overexcited and is bouncing around all over the place. Eddie has to tell him at least three times to come and walk properly otherwise he’ll get lost.

“You know what happens to kids who don’t do what they’re told don’t you?” Eddie asks Seth, who had been about to bolt off again, “The Child Catcher comes to take them away.”

This makes Seth stop dead in his tracks and he turns back to look at Eddie, a little bit of apprehension already showing on his face. 

“The Child Catcher?” He asks, his voice wavering with fear a bit as he grabs hold of Eddie’s hand.

“Yeah,” Eddie says sincerely as he looks down at Seth, “Comes to take bad little kids away.”

Seth sticks pretty close to him after that and Eddie considers that a job well done, although he hopes he hasn't traumatised the kids. There’s a kids play area with a ball pit in the middle of the mall which Eddie thinks might be better for the boys instead of dragging them all around the stores. Maybe it’s all the lights, but Seth goes berserk and starts chanting “BALL PIT” at the top of his lungs and jumping up and down as soon as they make it inside. It’s all that Eddie can do to keep a hold of him before he loses him, again.

“Hold you’re horse’s kid!” Eddie shouts as he grabs Seth by the back of his t shirt,  “You gotta take your shoes off first!”

Seth practically rips his shoes off, throws them to the ground and goes diving head first into the ball pit, almost knocking over a small child in the process.

“This is awesome!!” Seth yells as he surfaces from underneath the pile of brightly coloured balls, “Come on Richie!”

Richie is still hovering unenthusiastically near Eddie’s legs and shows no sign of wanting to go anywhere near the other children or the ball pit.

“Go on Richie,” Eddie says as he pulls Richie out from behind him, “In you get.”

He tries to nudge him forward but Richie won’t budge; not even when Seth calls out to him and throws an handful of plastic balls at him.

“Don’t you want to play too?” Eddie tries again as he smoothes Richie’s hair down, “Seth’s having fun.”

Richie shakes his head; he doesn’t look too enthusiastic about all the other kids. He looks up at Eddie with a comically serious expression on his little face.

“It doesn’t look very sanitary,” He says seriously.

Eddie stifles a laugh as he takes Richie’s little hand in his.

“Come on then,” He says as he waves goodbye to Seth, “You can come and help your Uncle pick out a new shirt for his date tomorrow night. ”

The mall is pretty crowded by now so Eddie carries Richie up to the second floor where he’s hoping to find a new outfit for his hot date. Normally he wouldn't be too fussed but his last good shirt is covered in paint and glitter from when he had a craft day with the boys. Ray had once again disappeared and the kids were going stir crazy from being stuck inside the house all day so Eddie had sat them in the back yard with some paper and paints and helped them paint a huge spaceship. He's still got the picture hung up on his fridge. Once they enter the clothes store he sets Richie down and reminds him not to go running off anywhere; the last thing he needs is to lose one of the kids. Just as Eddie is picking through the piles of brightly coloured shirts, he’s looking for something that will impress Neela the Bank Clerk, the door clangs open and a woman with a dog walks in. It only takes Eddie a few moments to spot the Guide Dog vest the black labrador is wearing, its owner is already explaining to the clerk that the dog is still in training and getting used to loud places, when Richie starts heading towards it.

“Richard,” Eddie says warningly, making Richie stop dead in his tracks, “We’ve talked about this before; you don't go near strange dogs without asking the owners permission.”

Richie looks up at him; disappointment clearly showing on his face as he tries to reason with Eddie.

“But he’s a nice dog,” Richie says pleadingly, “I can tell.”

“Hmmm” Eddie says as he picks up a handful of shirts, “I don’t think you can tell that just by looking at him kiddo.”

“But he has a waggy tail and a happy face,” Richie says with the confidence only a four year can have in a dog, “That means he’s nice.”

The dog is indeed wagging its tail happily as it sniffs around on the floor whilst its owner starts picking out some pants. However Eddie isn't going to take any chances that it won’t turn around and bite Richie, no matter how much the kid tries to convince him otherwise.

“Sorry kid, not gonna cut it,” Eddie tells him, “Now come and make yourself useful and help me pick out a shirt.” 

Ten minutes later Eddie is no closer to finding a shirt as Richie is too distracted by the dog to be of any use. He keeps trying to edge closer to the it when he thinks his Uncle isn't looking so Eddie pulls him over to the changing rooms. They're going to be here all day at this rate and he's still no closer to finding an outfit for his big date. There’s a chair outside the changing room which he sits Richie on and tells him not to move an inch from whilst he tries on a couple of shirts. Richie hums a little song quietly to himself and swings his little legs back and forth as he waits. At least Eddie’s just got the one with him; Seth would have been an absolute nightmare. Ray hasn't bothered to call him to find out where his kids are yet either; thats if he hasn't just poured more booze down his throat. Its not right to neglect the kids like that and Eddie always hates himself for not saying something but Ray is his oldest friend, his brother practically. Maybe he just needs a bit of extra help or some time away from the booze. Eddie’s barely got his own shirt off when a little voice calls out to him.

“Uncle Eddie?”

“Yeah?” 

“Doe’s the Child Catcher really take bad kids away?” Richie asks him

“Yep.”

“Will he take me away?”

Eddie sticks his head out of the curtains

“What? Richie you’re not a bad kid!” Eddie says as he sticks his head out through the curtains, “You’re brother on the other hand…”

Richie starts to look highly alarmed at the fact that Seth might be on the Child Catchers list of naughty kids.

“But I don’t want Seth to go away,” He says as his bottom lip starts to wobble.

“Richard your brothers not going anywhere,” Eddie says reassuringly, “The Child Catcher only takes real bad kids. Like the ones who pick on people or say bad words. You don't say bad words now do you Richie?”

“No,” Richie says and he takes a quick look around, as if the Child Catcher might pop out from behind the clothes rack, before he continues, “Seth said the “f” word once.”

“Did he now? Did you tell him that was a bad word that only grown ups say when they're really mad?” Eddie asks as Richie nods, “And he only said it the one time?”

Richie nods again, his little fingers twisted together anxiously as he waits for Eddie’s opinion as to weather or not Seth has made it onto the Child Catcher’s catch list.  

“Well there you go then, you get one pass with the Child Catcher so as long as Seth keeps his mouth clean you’ll be fine,” Eddie says as he pulls back the curtain to reveal a lurid green shirt, “What do you think? You like it?”

Richie looks at him, his eyes screwed up as he thinks before he answers.

“You look like like a pineapple.”

“Is that good?”

“I like pineapple,” Richie says as if that settles the matter, “And you look fun.”

“Pineapple and fun,” Eddie says as he retreats back into the changing room, “Got it.”

Richie goes back to humming his little song and leaves Eddie in peace for about a minute.

“Uncle Eddie!”

“What?!” He’s halfway through buttoning up a new shirt when the curtain is pulled back and Richie’s little head appears.

“Where does the Child Catcher live?” Richie asks him, his big blue eyes wide with curiosity.

“What?”

“Where does he live?” Richie asks him again and Eddie is long regretting ever even mentioning the stupid Child Catcher, “Doe’s he have a house?”

“Space,” Eddie says as after a ridiculously long pause, “He lives on a space station with all the naughty little kids he's taken.”

Its all Eddie could think of but now Richie is looking at him he can tell that little brain of his is working overtime to figure out how this could all make sense. Eddie doesn't care what Ray says, that kid is smart as a whip.

“How does he breath?”

“Huh?”

“If he lives in space how does he breath?”

“Errrm, well.. he,” Eddie stammers as Richie looks at him expectantly, “He has a special mask and… and this dust stuff that allows him to breath.”

Richie considers this for a moment and is seemingly convinced which Eddie hopes will be the end of it until his nephew asks another question.

“Would he die if he took his mask off?”

“Yes. Yes he would,” Eddie says seriously, “Now enough about the Child Catcher, scoot back over there and let me get changed.”

Its only once he can hear Richie humming his little song again that Eddie allows himself to laugh. He likes the little kid conversations he has with the boys; they're more interesting than most adults he has to converse with. Richie’s is probably planning some sort of man trap to catch the Child Catcher, either that or Eddie has traumatised him for life. Its only once Eddie had pulled his own shirt back on that he realises he can’t hear Richie humming outside the changing room.

“Richie?” He calls out only to get no answer.

Once he's pulled the curtains back, Richie is nowhere to be seen. Shit! Eddie fly's out of the changing room only to find Richie sat outside the changing room, talking quietly to a guide dog.

“Richard! That’s not a pet,” Eddie says sternly, “That’s a working dog. See; it say’s on his jacket not to pet him.”

Richie jumps guiltily and drops his hand that had been about to stroke one of the dogs silky soft ears. The dog, who had been been sitting patiently whilst Richie had his little conversation with it, starts to wag its tail when its owner suddenly reapers.

“Sorry M’am,” Eddie says as he pulls Richie away, “He just likes dogs. Richard; say sorry to the lady.”

“Sorry,” Richie mutters, his face to the floor.

Thankfully the dogs owner, Beth, doesn't seem to mind at all.

“That’s ok, Liquorice is still learning,” Beth tells Richie as she gives him a big smile, “You wanna give him a treat for being such a good boy hun?”

Richie’s face lights up and he dashes over to Liquorice who wags his tail even harder now he's receiving some attention. Eddie leaves them to it whilst he pays for his shirts; he chose a nice blue one and the pineapple one in the end. Hopefully Neela is as appreciative of pineapples as Richie is. Once he's paid he has to wait a full ten minutes before he can pry Richie away from the dog; Richie wanted to make sure that Liquorice was properly petted all over before they left.

“Now, I know you like dogs Richie but you can’t pet guide dogs, they're not supposed to be distracted,” Eddie tells him as they leave the store, “You should know better than that.”

“But I didn’t see the sign!” Richie says frustratedly; he doesn’t like being told off by Eddie.

Eddie frowns; its not like Richie doesn’t know how to read. At four he can read much better than Seth ever could. Somethings isn't adding up.

“Do you mean you couldn't read it or you couldn’t see it?” Eddie asks him as he takes hold of Richie’s hand again, the last thing he needs right now is too lose him.

“I couldn't see it,” Richie mumbles as he looks at the ground, like Eddie is going to start shouting at him or something. Eddie’s never raised his voice to those kids once; apart from the occasional naughty behaviour they're good as gold when they're with him. 

“Why couldn't you see it?”

“Because I’m a retard,” Richie blurts out as Eddie almost drops his bags in shock; that’s not a word a four year old should know.

“Richard,” He says carefully, “Where did you learn that word? Do you even know what it means?”

“It means I’m stupid and slow and my brain doesn’t work properly,” Richie says as he looks up at Eddie, “And that I’ll end up in the nut house. I don’t know what that is but Seth says it’s where the bad people live.”

He says it so matter of factly which is extremely disconcerting to Eddie as Richie is only a little kid and should be concerned with playing games or rolling around in the dirt.

“Richie you’re not retarded,” Eddie says gently as he kneels down next to Richie, “And you’re not going to end up in the nuthouse.”

“But that’s what dad says,” Richie says as he frowns at Eddie in confusion.

Fucking Ray. He knew that Ray told other people that his youngest son was as dumb as a box of rocks but he didn't think even Ray would say that to a child’s face.  Richie is still looking at him like he doesn't really get it, because as a kid your parents word is supposed to be gospel. Why wouldn't what his dad tells him be true? No wonder Richie seems to be so lacking in self confidence. Eddie had noticed that he never seemed to want to play with the other little kids if they went to the park nor did he seem to have many friends at his preschool.

“Let me tell you something Richie,” Eddie says as he makes Richie look him dead in the eye, “Your dads not right about everything and he’s certainly not right about you being retarded. If he calls you that again you come tell me, ok?”

“Ok.”

“Good boy,” Eddie tells him as he pulls him into a hug and kisses the top of his head, “Now, come over here with me for a sec and let me test something real quick.”

There’s some seats across from the store they were just in so Eddie steers Richie over to them and sits him down. Someone has left a discarded newspaper on one of the seats so Eddie picks it up and holds it away from Richie’s face.

“Can you read the headline for me?”

Richie screws up his face in concentration as he tries to read the big black letters at the top of the page but after a while he gives up.

“No,” He says miserably. 

“Thats ok,” Eddie tells him as he holds the newspaper closer to Richie’s face, “We’ll try again.”

In the end Eddie has to hold the newspaper almost flat to Richie’s face before he’s even able to read any of the writing. There’s a couple of big words in there that Eddie wouldn't have expected him to be able to read but Richie gets them all once he can see them. Now that Eddie thinks about it Richie is always squinting at things or holding them up close to his face. Plus he always sticks close to Seth when they walk any where, which now Eddie realises must be because he cant see where he’s going.

“Richie,” Eddie says as he sets the paper down, “It think you might need glasses.” 

Before Richie can answer the tannoy blares into live above them and an announcement is called out.

 

**“THIS IS A CUSTOMER ANNOUNCEMENT: COULD MR EDWARD CRUICKSHANK RETURN TO THE CHILDREN’S PLAY AREA IMMEDIATELY PLEASE. THAT’S A MR EDWARD CRUICKSHANK TO THE CHILDREN’S PLAY AREA.”**

 

“What in the… come on Richie,” Eddie says as he picks Richie up and carries him over to the elevator, “Lets go see what your knucklehead of a brothers been up too.”

Half an hour later all three of them are sat in the waiting room of the opticians located on the third floor of the mall. It turns out that Seth got into a fight with another little kid over who would win in a fight; Rocky or Bruce Lee. Privately Eddie think that neither of them are a match for Jean Claude Van Dame but Seth was adamant that Bruce lee would destroy The Pride of Philadelphia, so much so that he shoved a kid face first into the ball pitt for suggesting otherwise. Eddie had had to bride the supervisor with fifty dollars cash and a coupon for the Donut Shake just so they wouldn't get kicked out of the mall. If they go home now then theres no hope of Richie being able to see properly; Ray sure as hell isn't going to take him to the opticians. Its already nearing five o clock Eddie is already exhausted. Taking care of the kids when they were small or when Richie still couldn't walk was easy; he only ever needed to keep his eye on one of them. Now they're both able to run around and get themselves lost or ask him endless questions; which was what Seth has been doing for the past twenty minutes. Richie had filled him in the Child Catchers secret space lair and now neither of them will shut up about it. He’s well aware he’s created a rod for his own back on this one, it had seemed like such a good idea to keep them close by, but Eddie is beginning to regret ever mentioning it to them. God only knows what will happen if they ever get around to watching Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. Thankfully, the boys are currently sat in silence whilst he read the newspaper; whoever is silent the longest gets a dollar which is a small price to pay for some peace and quiet. Or it would be if Seth would just behave himself.

“Seth, put that down!”

Seth, who had been using a model of an eye to zoom around Richie head like it was a spaceship, looked up at him guiltily and set the model back down on the desk. Eddie goes back to reading his newspaper whist Seth, who has evidently grown bored up being silent, decides to traumatise his little brother with some ridiculous horror story about eyeballs.

“Do you know how they check your eyes Richie?” Seth whispers, as if Eddie can’t hear him from two feet away, “They use a big spoon to scoop them out of your head like ice cream.” 

“No they don’t,” Richie says but he doesn't sound to sure of himself.

“Yeah they do,” Seth tells him, the humour evident in his voice, “They pull them out and you have to hold them whilst they see which bits don’t work.”

It’s a this point that Eddie regrets allowing Seth to watch The Eye Creatures as Richie is now looking close to tears and visibly recoils when the optician finally calls his name.

“Don’t be ridiculous Seth,” Eddie snaps, “Richard; they don’t take your eyes out of your head. Now come on, I don’t have all day.”

He ushers them both into the opticians room; he practically has to drag Richie in by the arm. Dr Sparks is turns out to be very friendly and used to dealing with little kids; she give the boys some stickers whilst she explains to Eddie what’s going to happen. Richie, who had been listening to the entire conversation, was not as all enthusiastic about going into a darkened room with a stranger.

“No,” He says firmly when Dr Sparks asks him to hop up onto the huge black chair at the end of the room.

“I’ll do it,” Seth pipes up and jumps straight into the chair. 

Eddie gives him a nod; Richie is more likely to do something if he sees his brother doing it first. Seth makes a lot of noise about how cool the eye test is, so much so that Richie stops hiding behind Eddie’s legs and edges forward a bit. It turns out that Seth has perfect 20/20 vision; no surprises there but he does earn himself a sticker for his troubles. After some gentle persuasion and some encouragement from Seth, Eddie finally gets Richie to sit in the chair. Richie turns out to be very good and sits patiently whilst the optician holds up an array of different lenses over his eyes and asks him what he can and can’t see. It’s worth it though; to see Richie’s whole face light up when the optician clicks in the correct lenses and he’s finally able to see properly.

“I didn’t realise you’re head was so big Uncle Eddie,” Richie says as he looks up at him in wonder, “Does this mean I'm not a retard anymore?”

“Thanks kid,” Eddie deadpans, “And I told you before; you’re not retarded. Now you know you have to wear them all the time Richie? No taking them off otherwise you’ll be back to walking into things.”

Richie nods solemnly and stares around at everything in the room, taking in all the different shapes and colours that had been alien to him before. Whilst Seth is getting Richie to list all the different things he can see, Dr Sparks takes Eddie to one side.

“You know his eye sight is extremely poor,” She informs him, frowning at him slightly, “If we’d had him earlier we might have been able to correct it. Did you not notice that he couldn’t see properly?”

Eddie bristles a bit at the assumption that he would just let Richie wander round in blurry haze without doing anything about it. He’s not with the kids as often as he'd like and Ray sure as hell never said anything about Richie’s poor eyesight. Not that Ray would notice if anything was wrong with either of his kids, Eddie thinks bitterly.

“Sorry,” He says curtly, “I’m just the Uncle, I’m not with them all the time. I’ll make sure his dad knows to get his eyes checked regularly.”

This seems to appease Dr Sparks and she lets them leave with Richie now in possession of brand new pair of glasses and Seth covered in stickers. 

“You two wanna go get a burger before I take you home?” Eddie asks them and is all but deafened by the din as they both start yelling with excitement. They make a game of getting Richie to read out all the shops signs they see on the way down to food court; the happiness on his little face as he explores his new found world gets Eddie a little bit choked up. Ray is a useless piece of shit when it comes to those kids but as long as he's living Eddie is going to do his best by them; he might not be  a blood relation and he might not be their dad but he sure as hell loves them with all he's got. 

“Thank you for my glasses Uncle Eddie,” Richie says quietly as he wraps his little arms around Eddie’s waist.

“Any time kiddo,” Eddie says as he scooped him up in his arms, “Any time.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Special shout out to the real Liquorice, who is the definition of a very good dog! And yes, The Eye Creatures is a real film and just terrible as it sounds, please go and view it immediately.


End file.
